Posts Tagged ‘mushroom soup’

I developed this recipe just recently due to the fact that I had several pounds of Miatake (Hen of the Woods) mushrooms. I was fortunate to live in an area adjacent to a woodland where I found a very large Miatake, 50 pound, clump. I used some fresh and dried the rest but never came up with an idea as to how or what to do with them.

My aha moment came the other day when my local grocer had a good variety of dried mushrooms on sale. I picked up some Shitake, Wood Ear, Oyster and Porcini. I decided also to get some button mushrooms to add another layer of flavor. This recipe makes about a gallon of soup, I canned some and froze some it’s up to you.

Put dried mushrooms in separate bowls, add enough warm water to cover them. Soak until they are pliable. Chop the Miatake into medium dice, they will be used as the base for the soup. In a large stock pot place chopped Miatake along with soaking liquid and enough warm water to cover. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Add the soaking liquid from the other mushrooms.

Depending on the size of the button mushrooms cut in half or quarters. In a pan large enough to hold the mushrooms sauté half the shallots until translucent, add mushrooms and continue to cook until any water released has evaporated. Add half the port wine and set aside. The rest of the mushrooms do not let off a lot of liquid and usually to not shrink as much as the button so when you cut them take this into consideration. In a pan large enough to hold the balance of the mushrooms sauté the remaining shallot until translucent, add the mushrooms and continue to sauté until cooked through, add remaining port and set aside.

Now we need to concentrate on the base stock. I’ve found that using a food processor doesn’t really do a good job in pureeing the mushroom stock. I use a blender for this step and do it in batches so as to insure that all of the base mushrooms are liquefied. Return the pureed stock to the stock pot and now is the time to season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the cream to the stock and stir to combine. Bring back to a simmer and add the balance of the mushrooms stirring to combine. Readjust seasoning if needed, I added a little more port at the end to finish.
Enjoy!